Significant quantities of hydrocarbons are found in complex salt environments.
One of the modern challenges of exploration and production activities is to image below
salt. This challenge arises from the complexities of salt structures, weak primaries from
the subsalt, and the interference of free-surface multiples with the weak primaries of the
subsalt. To effectively process subsalt data, we need to develop a method of attenuating
free-surface multiples that preserves the amplitude and phase of primaries and does not
introduce artifacts at either near and far offsets. In this thesis, we will demonstrate that
the weak primaries of the subsalt can be preserved while attenuating free-surface
multiples. The method used for the demonstration is the bottom-multiple generator
(BMG) reflector approximation. This technique requires that a portion of the data
containing only primaries be defined. A multidimensional convolution of the data
containing only primaries with the actual data will predict free-surface multiples and
hence is used to attenuate free-surface multiples from the actual data. This method is one
of the most effective methods for attenuating free-surface multiples; however, the method requires muting data at the BMG location. One of the issues investigated in this
thesis, is to establish the sensitivity of the BMG demultiple technique when the mute at
the BMG location end up cutting some seismic reflections, which can be the case in
complex environments such as the Gulf of Mexico and Gulf of Guinea, where freesurface
multiples interfere with primaries. For this investigation, we generated synthetic
data through the 2D elastic finite-difference modeling technique. The synthetic seismic
data contain primaries; free-surface multiples, and internal multiples, and direct waves
acquired over a 2D geological model that depicts a shallow-water geology.
In this thesis, we also investigate if the first step of the BMG demultiple
technique can sufficiently attenuate free-surface multiples. For this investigation, we
designed a 2D geological model, which depicts the deep offshore environment, and we
generated synthetic data through the 2D elastic finite-difference modeling technique.
After performing the various investigations mentioned above, the following
conclusions were made, that the demultiple result is not affected when the mute at the
BMG location end up cutting some primaries, that the first step of the BMG demultiple
technique is not sufficient for the demultiple, and that the weak subsalt primaries are
preserved during demultiple processes. We compared shot gathers and zero offset data
before and after the demultiple.